Weather is only winner of Kranjska Gora and St.Moritz races

01 February 2014 09:42

Kranjska Gora giant slalom -

FIS

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia / ST.MORITZ, Switzerland – It was a tough day for skiracing as both scheduled races, which were taking place 500km apart had to be cancelled due to the challenging weather conditions.

First this morning, the 50th Golden Fox celebration didn't unfortunately start the way organisers were hoping for. Today, the conditions were simply not favorable enough for ski racing. There was fog, snow, rain and even a bit of wind. For those reasons today’s ladies’ giant slalom race, which was scheduled to start at 10.00, had to be cancelled.

“The bad visibility in conjunction with the soft snow outside the race line won't enable the athletes to have a safe race,” was the statement from the coaches working group during the decision making process.

In St.Moritz, the men were meant to start their DH race at 11.45 and until the very last moment it looked like things would be running smoothly but as the first forerunners came down the slope, a tick fog started lingering in the mid section. Racer number 1, French Brice Roger went back and forth from the starting gate multiple times.

“I was about to start six times and the seventh time they cancelled the race. The guys at the top were pretty relaxed, when we realized a lot of delays might happen we tried to lighten up the atmosphere and not stress out too much. It was clear at some point that we wouldn’t be getting a break from the weather so it came as no surprise when they called the race off. I hope they manage to find a slot to reschedule it down the season,” he said upon cancellation.

After the substantial snowfalls that hit both venues over the past days, organisers did everything possible to get the slopes ready on time. In Kranjska Gora, the snow cats and more than 200 volunteers were up on the hill working from 3 in the morning. But there was nothing more they could do against the adverse conditions. In St.Moritz, the whole day yesterday was dedicated to clearing the course and conditions were great this morning, but the fog decided to cause trouble.

"The race line quality would be acceptable if the weather was favorable,” FIS Chief Race Director Atle Skaardal explained about Kranjska Gora. “But that is not the case right now and it's not going to change today. We also have to take into consideration the second run. For these reasons we had to cancel the race.”

“We have tried everything we possibly could to get this race to happen but it’s just not safe with the visibility conditions continuously changing. Unfortunately we had to cancel today’s downhill,” was the information passed on to the teams by FIS Chief Race Director Guenter Hujara.

Everything will be done from now on to best prepare tomorrow's ladies’ slalom race. Let's hope for some better weather conditions. Start times in Kranjska Gora for tomorrow are 9:15 & 12:15 CET.

In St.Moritz, the forecast calls for an overnight snowfall but a plan is in place already to try to get the course ready in time for the race. Everyone is eager to get at least one race in the books this weekend. Start times are 10.30 and 13.30 CET